Ugly girl only wants to farm

Xu Chaoyan looked at the litter of fluffy rabbits and was tempted, but she couldn't bear to let them eat her. So she said, "Little sister-in-law, look how small and cute they are. Can you really bear to let them feed our stomachs?"

Meng Jiuxia glanced at the soft little white rabbits again, and her outstretched hand was pulled back by Xu Chaoyan. But she couldn't help but reach out again: "What you said makes sense, but we're so hungry that we can't even feed ourselves. Are we going to feed these little guys too?"

Xu Chaoyan glanced at them before saying, "I'd like to raise them, but these things eat a lot of grass, and then they'll smell like grass, which is a real hassle."

Seeing that she seemed to be relenting, Meng Jiuxia quickly pressed on, encouraging her: "At worst, I'll just cut more grass. I'm not afraid of the trouble at all. We can slaughter them and eat them when they grow a bit bigger, okay?"

Xu Chaoyan looked at the little rabbit's wet eyes and nodded: "Okay, you said you'd be responsible for the fodder for these rabbits from now on. Also, hurry up and bring the basket over and put your clothes in it. It's all wet here, there's not a single dry grass."

Meng Jiuxia looked distressed and refused to take off her clothes. She argued, "Why should I take off my clothes? Shouldn't it be you? It's not fair of you to bully the younger one."

Xu Chaoyan started spouting nonsense: "You're the one who wanted to take it back; I had no intention of doing so!"

Meng Jiuxia took one last reluctant look, and finally reluctantly took off her outer garment to put inside, looking pained: "Won't these guys get my clothes dirty? I don't have many clothes to change into."

Xu Chaoyan turned her head to the side and chuckled, before finally saying, "I have two more plain-colored clothes in my room. You can alter them yourself and wear them. Fortunately, Grandmother didn't take them last time because she thought the colors weren't bright enough."

Meng Jiuxia was just complaining a few times; she wasn't trying to take advantage of anyone. She quickly explained, "I didn't mean that. I don't want people to think I'm after your things; that would sound terrible if word got out."

Xu Chaoyan helped her carefully carry the rabbits in: "Alright, don't overthink it. I've just gained a little weight recently, so the clothes are a bit tight around the waist. I hope you don't mind."

To put the little girl at ease, Xu Chaoyan talked nonsense with a straight face.

After scrutinizing her from head to toe, Meng Jiuxia said, "Your family is so poor you can barely make ends meet, and you've gotten quite plump even though you're eating thin soup all day. I really can't believe it! You must have gained a lot of fat. Let me see your waist."

After saying that, she reached out and touched Xu Chaoyan's waist. Caught off guard, she was attacked by her sister-in-law. The ticklish sensation startled her, and she retreated repeatedly.

She kept laughing, giggling.

Xu Chaoyan was ticklish to begin with, so her sister-in-law must have done it on purpose.

"Do you still want the rabbit?" Xu Chaoyan waved the rabbit in front of her eyes to distract her.

After the two of them bickered for a while, they went to pick out the bamboo shoots. Since the rain had stopped, they cleaned the bamboo shoot shells and took them back.

After the two returned to the courtyard, they busied themselves again. Li San Niang told them to rest for a while, and Meng Jiu Xia said excitedly, "Mom, look how plump these rabbits are. I'll make a burrow for them right now, and we can raise them in captivity so we can eat meat when they grow up."

Li San Niang took the little rabbit from her hands and looked it over again: "These little guys must be hungry, right? They look so pitiful. Why don't you feed them some hay first? And when your father is feeling better, he can make you a cage."

Xu Chaoyan had the same idea. Her father-in-law's bamboo weaving skills were quite good, as could be seen from the things in the house. Suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration. Since he had nothing to do at home and was always sighing, she thought it would be good to have him weave some things to sell.

After having this idea in mind, Xu Chaoyan began to ask, "Mother, how good is Father's bamboo weaving skill? He can probably weave all sorts of things."

Li Sanniang laughed twice: "With your father's skills, he can manage to weave a basket or a chicken coop for the family, but he's not good at weaving anything intricate. Your grandfather and ancestors were bamboo craftsmen, and they were good at weaving delicate things. But your father-in-law's generation, he probably didn't have the talent or something, so he studied some books, learned some characters, and became an accountant. His bamboo weaving skills are only barely enough for household use."

Li San Niang looked at her suspiciously: "Yan'er, why are you asking this? Is there something you need woven? Otherwise, I'll find someone in the village to weave one for you. Most farmers can make some simple things. Your father could easily make a birdcage or a chicken coop. If you want something more sophisticated, he'll definitely be exposed. He's just fooling you people."

Just then, Meng's father overheard his wife's words from inside the house. He feigned anger and said, "Third Sister, what are you saying? How can you speak ill of your own husband in front of your wife? I only did that because I hadn't shown you my true abilities. If you had seen my real skills, you would have praised me endlessly."

Hearing this, Xu Chaoyan became interested and quickly ran to the door with a "thump, thump, thump": "Dad, what kinds of things can you make? Can you tell me about them? I have an idea right now, but it's not quite there yet. I think the winnowing baskets, bamboo stools, and bamboo chairs in the house are pretty good. They were made by Dad. Dad, you're really amazing."

Father Meng nodded, looking embarrassed: "Well, before I became your family's accountant, I would casually weave a few pieces and put them here on summer nights when I was enjoying the cool air in this courtyard. Over time, I accumulated quite a few. Since we have a large family, it would cost a lot of money for a carpenter to make them, so I decided to do it myself and be self-sufficient."

Xu Chaoyan was overjoyed when she heard this. Since he stayed in the house all day anyway, she thought that if she could find him something to do, he wouldn't be so bored.

Meng Jiuhe sat in the room and saw the woman's ecstatic expression through the crack in the window. He wondered to himself what was wrong with her and what had made her so happy.

She had just returned with a basket of bamboo shoots and changed her clothes when she and her younger sister went out to fool around with the baskets. Her mother didn't seem to care. He was planning to give her a few words of advice later, telling her not to keep going into the mountains because the roads were slippery in the rain. But now he saw her smiling happily, and he wondered what had happened to her.

Meng Jiuxia teased the rabbit and asked, "What are you trying to do now? Dad needs to rest, don't disturb him or do anything reckless."

Xu Chaoyan touched her nose and smiled sheepishly: "I don't mean anything, I just think Dad is very skilled and I want to ask him to make some little trinkets."

Meng Jiuhe happened to see her cunning look in her eyes; it flashed by but he still caught it.